Two neckrests ·  Mali, Dogon/Tellem · ID: 3034673

Description

wood, partly encrusted brown patina, a) in form of a stylized animal, dam., missing parts, cracks, traces of abrasion, base, L: 21,5 cm, H: 8 cm; b) sickle-shaped, fragmentary, dam., missing parts, traces of insect caused damage, l: 23,5 cm, h: 14,5 cm, wooden socle;
the Tellem preceded the Dogon on the Bandiagara cliffs. Although the Tellem did not live in the caves except as a place of refuge, they built mud-brick granaries in some for food storage and used others for funerary rites and communal burials. The burial caves contained many objects that were presumably offered as gifts for the dead. The group of objects found in the burial caves seems to refer to the daily activities of the deceased, such as the hoe handles of a farmer or the bows and arrows of a hunter. Only a few of the burial caves contained neckrests, which may have been a sign of high status.